Under the Assassin's Hood
by PatchAndScamp
Summary: Five years have passed since the fall of The League of Assassins and the death of Ra Al Ghul. As the enemy grows stronger and the threat looms over them again an assassin is sent to find and fight with Damian against Slade. The enemy continues to grow and looms over them as they begin to grow closer. Who will strike first? DamainXOC
1. Chapter 1

Amongst the nearly completed temple Talia looked around at all they had built in the past five years. Remembering how difficult it had been. The onslaught of devastating occurrences started with the death of her father, Ra Al Ghul. Who was murdered out of spite by Slade Wilson, his previous apprentice. Slade became jealous of Damian Wayne, Talia's son and Ra Al Ghul's grandson, who became his pride, new apprentice and new successor.

Slade attacked the League of Assassins with an army of assassins and an air strike that was catastrophic and destroyed the majority of the temple and most of the assassins. The league put up a good admirable fight, however, everyone was doomed to fall. Talia's first instinct and course of action was to get her son to safety, and although she didn't have a chance to save her father, she did not regret getting her son to safety.

When Talia returned to temple, after taking her son to Gotham City and leaving him in the care of his father, Bruce Wayne. With no time to mourn her father Talia started looking for survivors and anything salvageable that would help in the rebuilding effort. When moving away some of the rubble and crumbled up remains of the walls she found a young girl, no younger than ten. She recognised her as one of the new apprentices. As she examined the girl she appeared to be wounded with a broken arm. The girl soon started apologising profusely for hiding and for her weakness and trying to explain that she had been injured. That she was trying to give herself to heal but the ruins collapsed trapping her in the hiding place. Talia quickly dismissed the girl and told her to help her look for survivors or anything salvageable, as she may be one of the last assassins left and there was no time for grovelling or weakness.

The temple had been in progress for five years. Survivors and allies had come in plenty to help replenish the temple to its once found glory. Talia became the leader of the League of Assassins and started rebuilding the trade and finding new allies to make the League great again. As the temple began to grow so did Slade's allies and forces which, according to Talia's sources, was made up of omnipotent forces. As news of Slade's power spread Talia became more anxious and apprehensive of Damian's safety, as he is Slade's main target.

The young girl from five years ago was beneficial to the rebuilding process and soon became a valued member of the League. Her name is Kiara Miles. She is now fifteen years old and has matured into an exemplary assassin. She had impressed Talia with her dedication to the league, and had caught her attention with how her skills had improved and her resolve hardened. Kiara being around Damian's age had made Talia feel closer to her, not that she showed it or any favouritism. Kiara was the obvious choice for Talia's next mission; her age, her skills and her tendency to keep things secret. Talia of course knew all of Kiara's 'secrets', not that Kiara knew that.

It seemed only fitting that Talia chose Kiara to find and protect Damian. Talia knew that if Damian knew that Kiara was going to help protect him he would throw a fit, furiously arguing that he can protect himself. Knowing that Damian would deny all help, and hate her for thinking he needed it, made her uncomfortable, yet the impending threat was too big and serious for her to take any risks if he was going to be the best leader of the League like her father trained him to be he had to be safe.


	2. Chapter 2

As Talia directed her, Kiara set off to Gotham to find Batman. Talia had said it would be an easy enough mission, in terms of travel and finding him. The only thing that Talia had told Kiara about Batman had been 'wherever there is trouble that's where he would be'. Kiara had been travelling for several days, which is longer than what Talia had said it would take. Kiara started to panic, this was her first solo mission which only made her even more anxious. She had to complete the mission. She would complete the mission. She would do everything in her power to complete it, even if Damian would be as difficult as Talia said he can be. That was the mantra she repeated to herself through the journey. As the days dragged on her food supply dwindled and the rations she had set for herself had eventually ran out. The distance she travelled from the drop-off point had taken a lot more energy than she had anticipated. On all the previous missions Kiara had been part of a team, always been given the orders, always been the muscle and who had to spring into action. At the temple everyone was trained in all areas, but she had never been as enthralled or specialised in long distance running or stamina. This was now an error in her eyes as she was not as prepared, as she and Talia thought, for the extended journey.

At her arrival in Gotham a huge sense of relief flooded over her. The first part of the mission was finally complete. So maybe she wasn't a complete failure of an assassin. Her stomach then decided to prove to her otherwise. The ache had been numbed somewhat while she was travelling, becoming more of a familiar void in her stomach. But it seemed that now she had hope and was relieved by her new surroundings her stomach would not be ignored anymore. The realisation of her empty stomached dawned a new flood of exhaustion and famine onto her. The next matter of business was to find somewhere or something to eat, if Batman was there then that was killing two birds with one stone.

Wandering through the streets it seemed like Gotham was a very busy and popular city. This was the most people she had ever seen in one place. The streets were packed with people, all bustling in different directions. From the shadows in the alley way that she was hiding in she could see all the different types of people that reside in the city. Gotham is made up of big company buildings and apartment buildings, which gave her the clear impression that Gotham is a very modern city. She knew that she would not be able to find food or Batman from her current hiding place, so she set off to find some food and cause some trouble to attract Batman.

She wondered around Gotham and avoiding all the low life scum wallowing in the gutters of the alleys of Gotham. Gotham was a maze, but hiding in the shadows was the only way for her to travel. The first building she saw that wasn't a twenty story block but was a mansion of house that was surrounded by acres of land boarded with a seven-foot brick wall. The mansion had a long curved driveway that lead from the grand oak front door to the two black iron gates that lead to the streets of Gotham. Kiara's stomach then decided to remind her about its emptiness and then she made up her mind. This would be the place. 'Go big or go home right?' She knew breaking into someone's home wasn't right but it was survival of the fittest in this world. 'That's definitely gonna have food. Talia only said don't get caught, nothing about stealing' she thought to herself as she nodded her head, making her dark red hair whip around her face in the wind.

With her solidified new determination, she started to scale up the brick wall and threw her right leg over the flat horizontal top of the wall and straddled it. Her new vantage point allowed her to see that there were multiple lights on in multiple rooms; there were people inside, she had to quite sneaky. She smirked to herself, sneaky was one thing she could definitely do. Moving her left leg over the other the side of the wall, she put her arms on either side of herself and pushed upon them to launch herself onto the floor, where she landed on the bright green grass in a low crouch.  
The first order of business is to scout out the house and look for any point of entry. She scouted the mansion from bushes and the shadow of the wall made from the street lights. It was round the left side of the house that she saw her opportunity. There was a window open on the second floor of the house, with a thick black metal drain pipe to the right of it.

She stood under the drain pipe and looking up, the window must have been twenty-five feet above her. Standing next to the mansion made the vast size of it sink in for Kiara, now she second guessed herself and berated herself for being so ambitious. She shook her head as if to clear her head and then looked up to the window and put her right foot into cracks of the bricks of the house and her left hand on the pipe. She began to climb up the pipe. She knew she was about half way to the window and that she could climb up the rest of the way if only she could ignore the searing ache in her muscles, the hollow cramps in her stomach and how heavy her eye lids suddenly became with her intense fatigue. The climb was harder than it should have been, but she got to a parallel level to the window and knew she needed a last burst of energy to vault herself to the window sill. She tightened her grip on the pipe and bricks and leaned back onto her tensed legs and used her calves to propel her towards the window sill.

Gripping the windowsill and tensed her arms and hauled herself up so that the top of her torso was in the window. Then she used her right leg to swing over the window and lifted her left leg up and quickly scanned the room. She smirked to herself as she thought 'Carpet. Perfect. I will have to thank them for rolling out the green carpet for me' and softly lowered down onto the green soft shaggy carpeted floor in a low crouch and moved to the corner of the room in the shadows. Now that she had conquered the dreaded vertical climb up the pipe she slowly leant her head back onto the wall behind her, and allowed a miniscule soft sigh to escape her lips as her drained muscles relaxed and sagged.

The room was even grander than she had anticipated. And it appeared to be a bedroom. The ceiling was about twelve feet high and a cream colour. Adjacent to the high ceiling was the four walls that were the same cream colour as the ceiling, yet halfway down the walls were cut in half by vertical oak wooden panels that stretched down to the deep green shag carpet. All of the furniture in the room was made of a rick mahogany wood, which only made Kiara even surer that this was one of the resident's bedroom. The huge four poster bed was in the centre of the wall opposite her, apparently whoever's room this was liked to see the sun set as the window was to the bed's right. As for the other pieces of furniture there was a mahogany nightstand to the left of the king sized bed with a dark green lamp on it, and a wardrobe that must have been over six-feet tall and five foot wide. The wardrobe was not as grand as everything else in the room but it was surely big enough and a good enough hiding place if she ever needed one.

After her quick analysis of the room she moved around in the shadows, staying close to the wall and walking with soft steps in a crouch clockwise around the room. There were two doors leading from the room, Kiara just had to deduce which one led to the hallway. From her observations she realised that the door opposite from her was smaller than the one adjacent to her right, and that the one to her right had a crack of light under the bottom of the door. 'Well, there's only one way to find out'. She quietly made her way over to the door opposite to her, hoping that it would lead into the hallway and that no one would be in the hallway or in the kitchen, wherever that was, and that she could raise the alarm while she was leaving. Hopefully alerting Batman so she could talk to him about Damian and her mission from Talia.

The smaller darkened door led to an en-suite bathroom. She guessed she should have known that such a big fancy mansion of a house would have en suite bathrooms for their bedrooms. Even in the dark she could make out that the bathroom was just as grand as the bedroom, which was to be expected as everything in the house was on a grand and expensive scale. With the first door checked it only left the bigger door with the light on the other side was the way to the hallway, and ultimately the kitchen.

She crept closer to the door until she was in front of it in a crouch and began to reach out to the copper door knob to the right of her with her hand. Just as her hand softly gripped the door handle, letting out a low quiet sigh, she bounced on the balls of her feet readying her posture and preparing herself. Her stomach suddenly clenched to remind her of its emptiness and how long it had been in this state. The realisation hit her that if she did meet someone in the house she would either have to move fast and run or have a small altercation to get free. Which in her current state of hunger and exhaustion wasn't ideal but she had no choice, she had to do this to get what and who she needed so she could rest. Her head slumped forward as she let a small shiver run through her body as she let muscles slack for half a second before tensing them all and squinted her eyes in concentration. Her hand clenched over the doorknob as she slowly turned it until she heard the faint click and she took a small step back at a time while she pulled it towards her till the light spilled into the room in a line from the two inch opening in the door.

With the door open a crack she could now slink more to her right so that she could look through the crack in the door and hear anyone coming. 'Please, please, plea- '. Her thoughts were cut off as she heard footsteps coming close. Her first reaction was to move out of the way of the light coming from the door and quickly give the door a soft push to make the door seem closed without making any noise. Making sure that she kept in the shadows she quickly scurry over to the wardrobe on her tip toes. As she got to the wardrobe she prayed that the doors were not squeaky and that she could quietly creep into the wardrobe and wait for the person to pass the room. Thankfully someone heard her prayer and granted her this favour. Safely in the refuge of the wardrobe she peered through a small crack between the two doors and gripped her dagger on her right thigh. The dagger that had been with her since she joined the League of Assassins, that had never let her down just like her brother and never would. Her grip tightened on the gold embroidered handle of the dagger, she clenched her jaw and lowered her crouch keeping all her power in her calves so that she could spring out if anyone found her.

She heard a noise, a squeak. The door was being opened. She hadn't shut it enough. They knew she was here. The window was still open, she held hope that due to this that they would think that she had left through the window. No such luck. Kiara hadn't even heard anyone move across the vast room to the wardrobe, before she knew it someone had wrenched the doors open and tightened their stance, prepared for an attack. On instinct she lunged at the attacker with the dagger, now unsheathed, in her right hand. Before she could get the dagger near their neck or her left arm near them to restrain she was grabbed around the waist by two hands and tossed over their shoulder and onto the bed a few feet behind them. Quickly finding her bearings she swung her legs behind her and propelled herself off the bed in a backwards roll to land in a defensive stance with her dagger still gripped in her right hand. Before she could lunge at her opponent they were in front of her and wrestled her dagger out of her right hand. In response she used her right leg to kick the back of their left knee to knock them down and out for long enough for her to escape out of the window. Her kick was successful but her opponent apparently had some fight training because before she could run in the direction of the window they had jumped up and proceeded to pursue her. This was not good. If her hunger, fatigue and general exhaustion was not enough of a hindrance her opponent apparently had some fighting training, or at least experience, and was very agile and light on their feet.

This would not end well. She had to either win or escape fast as she could feel her adrenaline and what was left of her energy depleting, and fast. With a last burst of motivation, she bolted for the open window, planning on jumping, and hopefully grabbing, on to the drain pipe. She kept all her focus on pushing the drained muscles in her legs to propel her to the window and hoping that her speed would be too fast for them to catch her. She was wrong. Her opponent had apparently vaulted over the bed and flew into her from the right, effectively knocking her flat onto the floor and throwing her dagger a few feet to her right. The fall had been unexpected and therefore knocked all the air out of her lungs in one big puff, and her head had connected harshly against the floor.

The plush carpet had done nothing to cushion her fall, her head began to spin and her vision became infested with little black dots. All of the energy left in her body has abandoned her as she felt her muscles relax against the lush carpet and her eyelids fight to close at last and rest. Her opponent was above her now, peering down from his kneeled position. His, it was a boy. 'A man really'. He seemed to be in his twenties and quite muscular. That explained how he had been able to render her momentarily incapacitated.

She fought her eyelids into blinking lazily as he hefted her over his shoulder and apparently bent down to retrieve her dagger. Her mind was still fogged with the contact with the floor but she was conscious enough to berate herself extensively. 'See, this is why you don't break the law you get your ass handed to you. Damn it Kiara, you should have just gone to find Batman. Talia is going to be so disappointed. She shouldn't have picked me to partake in this mission'. As her captor trudged along hallway after hallway she lay over his shoulder with her stomach to his shoulder and her head facing his back. He had a firm grip on her legs, she didn't know whether that was so that she didn't fall or if she couldn't escape. Either way she lay there with her body lax as she waited for him to put her down so that she could start to formulate a plan to escape. He trekked down some stairs that seemed endless and her slack body bouncing unceremoniously after every step. He finally stopped.


	3. Chapter 3

"This isn't fair" Damian exclaimed. "You let Grayson go out on patrols on his own when he was younger than me, and I'm much more skilled and able than he was, is and ever will be!" Bruce and Damian were currently in the Batcave arguing, again, about Damian going on more patrols by himself. They were both in their uniforms, preparing to go patrolling for the night. Bruce's deep baritone voice bounced off the vast walls of the Batcave as he replied with, "This isn't up for discussion Damian. I've said no now respect my decision. You are only fifteen, you are still under my care and supervision". Damian scoffed and crossed his lean muscled arms over his chest. As he opened his mouth to retort Richard 'Dick' Grayson entered the Batcave, with a figure slung over his shoulder. He had a cocky smirk on his lips as his eyes sought out and found Damian, to which his mouth spread to a wide knowing grin, exposing his straight, pearly white teeth.

Dick practically skipped to the pair, with apparently no care for the body over his shoulder, and he stopped in front of Bruce and Damian looking between the two with wide sparkling blue eyes of glee. Damian's left eyebrow raised on its own accord as his eyes bounced between Dick, Bruce and the body over Dick's shoulder. Before either Bruce or Damian could open their mouths and question Dick he lets out a girlish giggle as he bounced on the tips of his toes and addresses Damian with "Damian do you want to explain why this girl was in your wardrobe?" in a teasing tone accompanied with a teasing, knowing raise of his eyebrows. At this new information Bruce's head snapped to Damian with an incredulous look and crossing his arms across his well-muscled chest and tightened them threateningly. Damian's response to Dick's question was his arms falling to his sides and hanging there while his mouth fell open in an unattractive gape.

Kiara's head lifted with a jolt at this also as decided now was the best time to struggle and escape, even if it was futile. Dick chuckled throatily and swung his head back in amusement of everyone's reactions. Damian started to spew out denial at the accusation, which were not very comprehendible, such as: "I've never seen her before, she's obviously a petty thief", to Bruce in his defence, not that Dick was listening. Dick began to flounce over to a chair situated to the right of them as he raised his voice to continue to tease Damian as he mockingly berated him with "I mean I know you have a thing for hiding weapons but hiding girls in your wardrobe is taking it to a new level, Damian. I know you always want to be prepared for anything but damn". As the accusation was vocalised Damian's face lit up in a bright red blush and his eyes widened comically. Bruce's eyes stayed trained on Damian as he stammered and stuttered out that Dick was lying and repeating that he had never seen her before in his life.

As Dick began to lower Kiara to the chair Damian's stuttering and denial abruptly ceased as he shouted "Wait!". At his exclamation everyone stilled in anticipation, and Kiara stiffened and squeezed her eyes shut in a silent prayer. Damian dashed over to the girl and seized Talia's sword from the sheathe on her back and took a few steps back as Dick dumped her onto the chair below her. As Kiara felt the chair below her she whipped her head up to see the other occupants of the room and readied herself to jump and attack. Her plan was stalled as when her head was raised she saw the end of the blade of Talia's sword loom towards her neck and the user of the sword glare at her from behind a black mask covering his eyes. He seemed to be about her age, maybe even a few years older. He wore a costume, that from the images that Talia had shown her she could decipher was Robin's, Batman's sidekick. His short black hair was spiked up, and he was about 5'8, only three inches taller than her. He was quite muscular and lean, like most of the men back at the temple, she supposed it would be expected if he worked with the Batman. Her green eyes scanned the vast dark hollow cave and the second person she saw, her eyes widened, was just who she was looking for.  
Batman. Her original captor was stood to her right a few feet away from her and his eyes never left Robin. She felt the tip of Talia's sword press into the skin of her neck, at this her eyes returned to Robin's deadly stare and sneer. "Why do you have my mother's sword?" he questions in a low lethal growl with venom dripping off every cold word. His teeth were clenched together as his jaw tightened at her silence. Kiara decided to do the right thing, and not to make a snarky sarcastic comment, but to cooperate. "Damian? She gave it to me. For proof. She sent me here on a mission, to find Batman" her eyes slid to said person, "And to help protect and train Damian". Her explanation was said in a projected steady, confident voice, to which she was proud of as she felt like she would collapse any minute.

Damian's eyes narrowed as he prepared to press the sword into her neck with more force. But before he could do that Bruce stepped forward and took hold of the hilt of Talia's sword and pried it out of Damian's clenched fist and pierced him with a long demanding stare. Before anyone could do or say anything Bruce's voice boomed into the cave as he looked at Kiara and decreed "I will go contact Talia to find out if she is telling the truth. For now, she will be put in the holding cell". Without another word he spun on his heels and headed towards the computer to their left, and Dick again hefted Kiara over his shoulder and took her to the holding cell fifteen feet away from them. Damian's gaze followed the girl as it burnt into the back of her head and her dark auburn locks and he clenched his fists. She seemed his age, and in good physical shape like him. Her eyes were quite peculiar, they were bright green and reminded him of cat eyes, they seemed to suit her thick fierily auburn waves quite well, her fringe fell as a curtain over her left eye and acted as an effective shield. Damian mentally shook himself, he should not be analysing her aesthetics, even if her physical appearance was pleasing and her physique did match that of an assassin it did not matter. If she was lying he would make her pay himself, and with that thought her stomped out of the Batcave.

When Kiara was deposited onto the floor of the holding cell and the door was locked behind her she let her muscles go slack and her head fall backwards onto the bars as she closed her eyes and allowed her body to finally partake in the rest it craved.


	4. Chapter 4

The first thing she was aware of is the deadly silence around her. She was not in the wilderness where she was squatting and finding shelter in during her journey. She had always heard birds, bugs and other life around her, it had helped lull her into a fitful comatose state. The fog of the much needed rest still weighed heavy and was clouding her judgment was momentarily stalling her memories. Prying her eyelids open, she could feel the crusted sleep acting as glue along the seams of her eyelids. Pushing past the hazy smog she forced her an eye open. Her left eyelid relented and lazily revealed her big, doe emerald cat eye still blurred from her sleep. The right eye put up more resistance but a second later yielded and exposed the identical eye. Her face pulled into a taut grimace as the haze began to lift, memories crashed back to her in a violent flood. Hunger, bumps and bruises began to sing to alert her. Damian. She had found Damian. AND Batman. The first two parts of her mission completed in one action. 'Yes!' she thought gleefully, the pain alleviated as her excitement coursed through her body in a giant wave. A giant grin split across her face as her shoulders slumped back and her head tipped back. She closed her eyes and started to quietly chuckle to herself.

This was just the beginning. There wasn't time to be resting, sheltered in a makeshift cell. From the looks of it she was still in the cell in the Batcave that the guy who wasn't Batman or Damian had put her in. This was good this meant she wasn't moved and she knew where she was. She was alone in the Batcave, which was again a point in her favour. Her eyes snapped open as she decided that the first thing was to scout out her surrounding to find out how she would escape out of the cell and what her next plan of action will be.

The cell itself was very basic. Well as basic as a cell could be in the Batcave she guessed. Her cell was placed in the bottom left hand corner of the Batcave in a corner, with the Batcomputer and the rest of the Batcave to the left of it. The cell itself was made up of four walls about ten feet in width, two of which are the black walls of the corner of the Batcave. The remaining two that faced the Batcave. One wall was made of thick industrial bulletproof glass, facing the rest of the Batcave, and the last wall was a dark metal door that took up the wall. In the cell there was a metal 'bed' that was attached to the back wall three feet from the floor. The 'bed' was a slim rectangle of the same metal that the door was made out of, and about six feet long and two feet wide. The lock on the door would have been easy to open, if she had her weapons, or anything for that matter.

Kiara let out a deflated sigh and began to ponder how she could escape the cell. It should be easy, she has been trained to get out of harder situations and cells than this, but she didn't have anything to help her escape. Her frustration began to build as she went through every possible escape plan she had been taught and even ones she herself had thought up. This wasn't going to work. This approach wasn't helping anything, she needs a new way of thinking, a new angle. She had been taught to always assess the situation fully, she had assessed the cell and her surroundings already, everywhere bare and empty. She was the only thing left in the cell. That was it, she needs to assess herself! What she has on her, what she can use to her advantage. All of her weapons had been taken from her before she had even been taken into the cell. All they had left her with were the clothes on her back, which consisted of her black body suit, black combat boots and her dark grey gloves with rubber for extra grip. Other than that she had her underwear and socks. All she had were articles of clothing, just fabric, no metal or anything she could use for anything. 'What am I supposed to do? How can I use my clothes to pick the lock? Even if I try I will be left in my underwear and someone could walk in and because of the glass wall it will be like playing peek-a-boob with my stupid bra… Wait. Bra. The underwire! I can use the underwire of my bra to pick the lock! '.

With this revelation her head shot up and her eyes glued to the lock on the door opposite her. The giant grin reappeared on her face and used her left hand to pull the front of her bodysuit open and angled her head down to look for the targeted garment. With the front of her bodysuit out of the way she had access to the centre of her bra and could use her right hand to push the curved end of the underwire to push it through the fabric covering it. With the end of the wire exposed her thumb and forefinger pinched the wire and pulled it free from the garment. Lifting up the thing curve of wire in triumph Kiara smirked and narrowed her eyes at the imperative wire.

The next step was to pick the lock. She knew in order to this she had to physically stand up and move, which isn't the most appealing action to her. Pulling her legs up to her chest, against her aching joints, was the easy part. With the feet planted flat against the floor she pushed back form the wall to hold herself in a crouch. Using the momentum, she pushed onto the tips of her toes and straightened her knees in a quick snap motion to stand with her knees locked to keep from relenting and falling back down. Now stood up straight the blood raced around in her veins and she could feel the stiffness start to leave her body. This would make things much easier.

She made quick work of the few steps to the door and bend her head down to begin her work. The curved nature of the wire would help her make quick work of the lock by using both ends easily. Thirty seconds passed while Kiara had both ends of the wire rammed into the lock, and she was beginning to grow frustrated. She was taught this at a young age, it was a minors trick it shouldn't take her this long. She rationalised this thought by persuading herself that it was due to the fact that it is Batman's cell lock. Taking a deep calming breathe she persisted until she heard the euphoric sound of the lock unlocking. 'Easy.' She smirked to herself as she stored the underwire in the sheath of her dagger, in case she needed it later. Now that was done, all that was left was to get her stuff go find Damian and Batman and try to explain to them, again, why she was here. And that she was not leaving.


	5. Chapter 5

Her brother's dagger and Talia's sword were laying on a flat platform next to the Batcomputer. Not very secure, but she supposed that they were coming back soon to secure them or just inspect them. From what Talia told her Batman isn't one to leave weapons around, which solidified her guess that she hadn't been unconscious for long, as her still drained body voting in favour of that hypothesis. Batman had said that he was going to contact Talia to make sure that Kiara was telling the truth, that's where he must be now. Considering this Kiara muse to herself, 'If he wasn't contacting her using the Batcomputer how is he contacting her? It's not like he has her phone number. There must be another room that he uses for communication, and that's where they have to be.' Grabbing her weapons, she strapped them back onto herself and set out to find Damian and Batman. Again.

She made her way out of the Batcave and into the actual house. This was the hard bit. All she could remember from her ride around to house to the Batcave were endless hallways and an uncomfortably bumpy trip. The mansion of a house was ginormous and she had no idea how she was going to be able to navigate her way to find any sort of room that they might use, never mind finding them. Maybe if her original 'captor' was still in the house it would be easy to find at least one of them, he seemed to be aimlessly wandering around when he found her so maybe he is doing that again.

Her voyage around the castle sized house seemed endless, all throughout the house she had her right hand over the door knob of her Brother's dagger, just in case. Slightly hunched over in a defensive position as she tiptoed through the halls, opening doors so that they were slightly ajar and she could see if there was anyone there. After fifteen minutes she had searched thirteen rooms and who knows how many hallways, and she hadn't found anyone. All of the rooms were: bedrooms, bathrooms, a gym, a library, an indoor cinema. Kiara had never known a house with so many rooms, nor that houses could have things like gyms, libraries and or cinemas.

The next door she checked looked just like the others, about six and a half feet tall, two feet wide and a deep mahogany wood and colour. Sighing to herself she shook her head and rolled back her shoulder and put her left hand over the door knob and pushed it open slightly. Her head tilted slightly down she could see light in the room. Before she could process that this could be where they were the door was wrenched open and out of her grasp. There in front of her stood her original captor all blue eyed chiselled jaw dark hair, the epitome of tall dark and handsome; Richard Grayson. His left eyebrow was raised and a smirk was pulling at his lips.

The room was vast and grey. A series of computer screens were pasted on the wall opposite to the door and a series of computer screens were pasted on the wall opposite to the door with a long desk under the expanse of the screens, and a wooden desk to the left of the screens. Bruce was stood at the front of the screens to the left and Damian to the right. Bruce had a microphone headset in his hand and his right hand hovering over a keyboard under the screens. Bruce, Damian and Dick were all surprised when the door sluggishly pushed open, and Dick being the closest to the door grasped the door knob and heaved it open. When Kiara was revealed in a bent stance with her right hand over her dagger and her left hand hanging in the air where it had previously held the door knob. Damian and Bruce's eyes widened and their mouths pulled back in a scowl, they loomed forwards with their posture.

"Oh shit." Kiara uttered as she lifted her head up and her eyes widened comically. Her mouth hung agape and her eyes shifted from between the three males. Before she could say anything else Dick piped up with "Aw Damian, your girlfriend can't stand to be away from you. She even escaped from her cell to find you.", accompanied by the appropriate smooching sounds. Kiara opened her mouth, outraged at the allegation, to protest and put him back in his place when Bruce's booming voice silenced them all. "Impressive. No one has been able to escape from that cell as of late. Let me guess, Talia taught you the bra pick lock.".

Kiara's eyes snapped to Bruce and widened even more. She was shocked, 'How did he know?! So he does know Talia really well, I wonder what the story is there…'. Closing her mouth, Kiara narrowed her eyes and stood up straight to directly address Bruce. "So you got the proof you needed to know what I've been telling you all along?" she mocked with an arrogant quirk of her left eyebrow and the left of her mouth. She crossed her arms across her chest and leaned back towards door frame.

"We don't know anything yet, thief. And until we do you are going back into the cell." Damian snarled at Kiara with his fists clenched by his sides and took two harsh steps towards her. Dick wrapped his arms around Damian's arms and chest and lifted him a floor off the ground with his hands clasped tightly on his wrists. "Now, now Dami. You may be fifteen but that doesn't mean you can just grab your girlfriend to try and get some alone time. Tut tut." He taunted Damian with a deep throaty chuckle. All the while Damian was struggling against Dick's clasped hands with his legs flailing, and Kiara's cheeks blushed bright red that spread to her whole face.

Getting tired of their childish antics and taunts Bruce scowled and boomed "Enough.". When all the other inhabitants of the room froze and had their eyes trained on him he turned back to one of the multiple screens and, again, tried to contact Talia. He had to get in contact with her and find out why yet another young assassin was in his house, apparently by her orders. This time he was one hundred percent certain she was not his child. When she did not answer again Bruce growled in frustration and lowered his clenched fist onto the desk with some force. Again, he tried to contact Talia and again, and no one dared to breathe a word. Damian's narrowed eyes stayed trained on Kiara with his mouth pulled in a warning snarl, Dick's mischievous gaze bounced back between the two teenagers his signature smirk still held on his face, and Kiara's eyes stayed trained on the screen and keyboard that Bruce was using. She knew that if Talia did not pick up and explain everything to them she would have to fight them again, and even with her best efforts she would lose and be put back in that cell and either have to wait till they did contact her or they would have her arrested. At this point she thought that they might keep in that cell forever. Her eyes narrowed and didn't waver from the keyboard or screen.

Talia picked up on the fifth call, and her face filled the screen. Her sharply angled face covered in porcelain skin, deep forest green narrowed eyes and a head full of a thick bustle of brown hair framing her face and falling down her back and chest. Her eyes narrowed and her mouth pulled into a seductive leer when she saw Bruce. "Ah, you are calling about Kiara I assume? You must be to contact me on my personal communication." She purred at Bruce, leaning further into the screen. "I hope she won't be any trouble, my love. She has to be there to protect our son.".

That shocked Kiara. Son. Batman and Talia. "Wait. What. Son?!" she blurted out. Her eyes instantly whipped to Damian, looking at him incredulously, then to Bruce to which she repeated "You're his father?! Talia why didn't you tell me?!". She took a step towards to the screen the index finger of her right hand held up accusingly. This revelation rushed around her head as her thoughts flew a mile a minute. 'It all makes sense. She sent Damian to his father. He knows her private contact and so much about her because- Ew.' That was not a thought she wanted to revisit anytime soon.

Bruce's head fell forward with an exhale of breath. "Take Kiara to a guest bedroom." He ordered the two boys without lifting his head up. Dick dropped Damian unceremoniously on the ground and gently wrapped his right hand around her forearm and tugged her towards the door. "Come on. We don't want to be here for the Ex's spat.". Damian followed, dragging his feet and mumbling to himself, through his clenched jaw, with his head down. Damian closed the door and looked up at them, about to order Dick to take her to the room when Dick dropped Kiara's arm and practically skipped down the hall to the right. "I will let you escort your lady friend to her room Damian!".

Damian growled and clenched his fists by his sides and stomped off to the left, assuming Kiara would follow him but not caring if she did or not. During the journey to the room Damian didn't lift his head from the ground or unclench his fists or jaw. Kiara had her head titled down but snuck glances at Damian at random times, between looking around so that she could get her bearings about her new surroundings. She hated awkward silences, so she cleared her throat quietly and joked "Wow, this place is like a maze.", with a small goofy grin on her face. Her eyes stayed on Damian as she waited for his reply or any sort of response. Nothing. She wondered if this boy ever smiled. From what she had seen of him she doubted it.

They walked some more and Damian did not make any sort of attempt to make conversation or look up. Kiara huffed and spat "Your social graces are impeccable.". At that Damian's jaw and fists just flexed. Suddenly he stopped in front of another identical door and seized the door knob and violently thrust the door open and snapped his head up and met her in challenge with his hard glower. In response Kiara met his eyes and narrowed hers and thrust her nose up I the air, her head held high as she sauntered into the room. A few feet into the room she stood still with her straight rigid posture, refusing to turn back to him, and she heard Damian roughly slam the door closed.


	6. Chapter 6

Alone in the room Kiara slumped forward in exhaustion. Kiara's new room wasn't as big as Damian's, yet it seemed like an apartment to her. Looking up from where she stood, Kiara stared at the ten feet high, stark white ceiling trying to come to terms with what has just happened. She has a room, it may be temporary, but that means they wanted her to stay, right? The walls of room were a dull, neutral blue and seemed quite fitting for a guest room, or that was what Kiara thought would be fitting for a guestroom if she had ever been in one. The walls ended in ornate white skirting, that reminded her of old Victorian patterns. The flooring was the only big difference from the guestroom and Damian's room, light beech wood laminate panels covered the floor instead of the dark green luxurious carpet. The furniture was all wooden like in Damian's room, yet the same beech wood of the flooring.

There was a standard size wardrobe, a small dresser that accessorised the room and a queen sized bed. She moved over to the wardrobe and ran her left hand over the handle on the wardrobe, it was like the one she had hid in in Damian's room just smaller and empty. She wondered whether she would be able to get any clothes to fill the wardrobe and or dresser, with what money, she had never had many possessions so she doubted all that she owned would fill half the wardrobe, never mind the dresser. The wardrobe was in the left top corner from the door, and facing the wall on the right of the door.

There was a window in the middle of wall opposite the door, the window was a two feet tall and wide square of clear thick glass that was split into four quarters using dark wood strips. The dresser ran along the same wall of as the window, adjacent to the wardrobe, nearer to the wall opposite the wardrobe.

The bed was pressed up against the centre wall adjacent to the dresser, it was at least three times the size of any bed she is used to. 'Maybe this is a room for two people', she wondered 'There is enough space for at least two people, in the bed and in the cupboards for all their stuff.'. The sheets and vast number of pillows on the bed were covered in grey silk and strewn artfully over the mattress. Deciding on testing out the ridiculously lavish trimmings on the bed, she took a slow jog to the bed and at the last minute leaped into the air and twisted onto her back so that she landed on her back in the middle of the bed with the blankets and pillows. They were even softer than they looked, Kiara knew that she couldn't wait to sink into these to sleep.

Kiara had to force herself to get off the bed, she first needed to sate her curiosity of 'her' new room, and then find some food and talk to Batman about her role here. The room had an ensuite attachment connected by a door to the left of the bed. The bathroom door was white and led into a moderately sized pristine bathroom, well what she supposed was moderate for this house. The toilet faced the door, it was pristine, white and modern, with the sink on the wall to the left of it with large a mirror over the top of it stretching across the wall, and extending down to the floor by the left of the sink where it ended. The sink was a part of a long, high cabinet that stretched across most of the wall and had cabinet door in the front.

The bathroom seemed too clean to use. There was a spacious shower stall in the corner to the left of the door of the room. Shower. That was something she had forgot about recently. She supposed she smelt rancid, with dirt sweat and God knows what else.

As well as a shower there was a bath that stood on strong, metal, silver coloured feet in the corner opposite it. She had never seen such a luxury, sure a bath and shower in different rooms but in the same room. She wasn't sure that anyone would need them both in the same room, but she guessed they liked the choice of what appliance to use to bathe. She needed to shower or bathe or just get clean before going anywhere, Batman probably wouldn't take her very seriously if she smelt like a walking dustbin.

She checked under the sink in the cabinets and found some shampoo and body wash, which was a God sent as she sure didn't have any toiletries with her. 'I wonder if they have anything else I can use, a toothbrush and toothpaste wouldn't go amiss' she pondered to herself. To her relief there was: a green toothbrush, toothpaste, a hair brush, a white flannel, hand soap, bubble bath and white towels, everything she would need. Smirking to herself she silently thanked them for giving her a toothbrush in her favourite colour. Showering would be faster and she just wanted to bathe, eat, talk to Batman and go to sleep, so speed would be much appreciation.

Now bathed and feeling much cleaner she practically leaped out of the shower stall, and tried not to dwell on the colour of the water that ran into the drain. Having no other close she begrudgingly got back into her clothes, half broken bra and all. For the first time in over a week she looked in the mirror and cringed at what met her eyes.

Her skin was paler than it was before, which she thought was impossible, her freckles looked even more prominent because of it. Her eyes were sunken in and surrounded by dark purpling circles, from her lack of sleep and her altercation with Dick. They made her eyes seem even more owl-like yet smaller at the same time. Her lips were chapped and split with remanence of dried blood on them. The only thing that she wasn't fully offended by was her dark red hair, well now it was clean it was the least offending thing about her. When her hair was clean it appeared to be dark brown and shiny, yet when it dried it became dark red and more frizzed and wavey.

The towel was the only tool at hand to dry her hair, so she bent her head forward and furiously rubbed the towel over her hair to dry it as quickly as possible. When finished, or as finished as she was willing to get it, she whipped her head back and examined the catastrophe she was awaiting. 'Yep. There it is, the red beast. Maybe I can pull it into a ponytail, to make me look more professional like I mean business. Then maybe Batman will take me seriously.'. With her mind made up she pulled one of the black bobbles off her right wrist and carelessly threw and scraped her hair into a ponytail. One of the things Talia had to told her is that you will never know when you will need a hair tie, but it will most likely be always, so Kiara always had at least one on her wrist at all times.

With all of her hair pulled away from her face she was face to face with her ears, that she thought stuck out too much, and her forehead that she thought took up far too much space on her head. 'Whatever. It's not like there's anyone to impress out there. The only one my age is Damian, and he's an asshole. And it's business, a mission that's all.' She dismissed. With that thought she nodded to herself in the mirror and turned on her heel and headed to the door to enter the winding maze of hallways.


	7. Chapter 7

The hallways seemed as ever-ending as before, but due to her trying to memorise the route to 'her' room. Her plan was to find the room she found them all in before and hopefully Batman would still be there and she could talk to him about her place with him, with them. She will need to train and keep up her strength and skills, as well as train with Damian, make sure he hadn't got rusty after all the years away from the The League.

Her memory wasn't the eidetic or as detailed as many of the other Assassin's, but she could retain information using her own methods. She had memorised how many left and rights Damian had lead her down and how many corridors they had passed by creating a rhyme of sorts. Kiara could best recall data by repeating words and putting them in a rhythm that she could easily sing to herself. As she wandered down the halls humming to herself and reciting the lyrics to her own song as she went. Her head bobbed on it's own accord to the rhythm as it moved around as she scanned the corridors for anyone or anything that she might 'have' to investigate.

After a few wrong turns and retracing her steps Kiara was at what she hoped was the right door, in double the time it took Damian to lead her here; maybe they could give her a map for this place or a temporary tour guide. She took a deep breath and grasped the familiarly identical door knob, squared her shoulder and pushed into the room with her head held high her eyes focused and confident for the conversation ahead.

As she had hoped Batman was still in the room, however he was bent over desk under the monitors with his fists clenched leaning on it. His head was dropped down between his shoulders, so he hadn't seen Kiara even though she thought that he would have heard the door open. It dawned on her that she would have to get his attention and notify him of her presence in the room. Her eyes slipped closed as she slowly inhaled and opened her mouth to vocalise her attendance in the room when the deep baritone voice grumbled from him; "Yes, what is it you need Kiara?".

Her eyes immediately snapped open and widened as they stared at Batman's back. Her mouth snapped closed and she cleared her throat to clear it of the lump that suddenly developed there in her panic. Still staring at his bent form that had yet to move she straightened her posture and tilted her chin up stubbornly as she demands "I need to keep training while I'm here.".

Without moving his body Bruce's head moves to the right to face her with his cowl down hanging at the back of his neck, his eyebrow raised cockily as he replied deadpanned "Naturally.". His response momentarily stunned Kiara. She hadn't anticipated him to be so agreeable, she had prepared points for the argument in her defence of why she _needed_ to continue training. With his agreement her posture slumped down slightly and she gave him a minuscule head nod in agreement.

Holding each others gaze Kiara stated her next condition; "I need to train with Damian. I need to make sure he is still in top shape with his training.". As these words left her mouth she noticed her mistake and took a hurried step forward with her arms up and hands up in defence as she stuttered in her defence loudly. "Not that he isn't well trained with you, I'm sure he is very well trained. That's just what Talia told me to do, to make sure he remembered his training from The League.".

Bruce let his amusement show as the left side of mouth lifted in a smirk that instantly reminded her of Dick's ever present smirk. "Of course, we wouldn't want Damian forgetting how to be a blood thirsty killer.", Bruce commented nonchalantly. The comment took Kiara off guard and her quick wit had her next comment bubbling from her throat before she could think it through; "Nice sarcasm. Did Talia teach you that as well?". Her left eyebrow rose and sickly sweet smile as she lent back against the wall with her arms across her chest to accompany her brass remark.

Bruce gave her credit for her boldness and that fact she wasn't intimidated by him, it was all a good sign that she would be a good match and challenge for Damian. With Kiara being satisfied by her comeback she brought the conversation back to the topic at hand; Damian. "How do I train him or protect him when he's so difficult. I mean, he won't even look at me!". She inquired letting her exasperation with Damian show.

Bruce wasn't surprised that Damian had already irked Kiara, he hasn't become any more social or easy to handle through the years with him. The only way Damian has got used to people is when he is forced to be with them for a substantial amount of time continuously, like Dick and Alfred, Damian was not fond of either of them but over time he grew to 'tolerate' them as Damian called it. Coming to a decision Bruce informed kiara "Well you will just have to go on patrols with us, if he avoids you here he can't avoid you on patrols, he knows the risks.".

How fast she was being included in their lives gave Kiara a head rush but she appreciated it all so much. "Thank you, Batman." She muttered with her head bent down and her arms hanging loosely by her sides. "Please, call me Bruce when I don't have my cowl on. Talia seems to trust you, so why shouldn't I.". Bruce did trust Kiara to an extent but until she was more open and had been around longer to do something that solidified his trust, Bruce was going to keep an eye on her and her on a tight leash, without her knowing of course.

"Come on, you must be hungry. Let's go to the kitchen I'm sure Alfred will be thrilled to meet you, he loves guests." Bruce announced as he rose to his full height and swept out the room without looking if she was following him. At his abrupt departure Kiara blinked quickly and sped after him while trying to make sense of what he had just disclosed to her. The first thing she could make sense of was the fact that she was going to get fed. Food. Even the word made her mouth water and her stomach clench painfully. She wondered what the quality of food would be like in a rich house like this, probably the best she had ever tasted. And she knew that she would not be afraid to stuff her face when it was placed in front of her. It probably wouldn't be the most polite way to eat in a place that she was a new guest in but she was too hungry to think about the right etiquette she should have when she was half starved.

Alfred. She wondered who that was, perhaps another young sidekick she didn't know about. She hoped he was more like Dick than Damian, then she could actually have a conversation with him, after she had had her fill of everything she was offered of course. She fell in step behind Bruce to his right and was too preoccupied by her thoughts of what food would be there to focus on her surroundings and unconsciously followed him. Her stomach growled at her relentless self torture in her thoughts and Bruce had heard the noise and glanced at Kiara and reassured her "We are almost there.". Kiara felt heat rush over her face and the flush spread from her cheeks to every inch of her face.

The kitchen door was on the left of one of the extensive corridors and was huge, the door to the kitchen left nine tenths of the mammoth kitchen to the left of the door and the small remainder of the kitchen to it's right. The kitchen was pristine and modern with different kinds of high-tech cooking appliances scattered over the black granite worktops. The worktops outlined the perimeter of the walls of the kitchen that were to the left of the kitchen door, leaving gaps for some of the appliances to slot into. All of the appliances were made of the same silver chrome coating, while the cupboards were black against the white walls. The double-doored silver chrome fridge that was in the middle of the wall facing the door to the kitchen, and looked like it could hold three people inside it. To the left of the fridge was a long deep sink with a high detachable tap. The oven was opposite the fridge on the same wall of as the door to the kitchen, and had an over top fan and two doors to open the oven with eight hobs on top of it. There was a breakfast bar connected to the worktop behind the door and went horizontally in a straight line just before the door, the six black and silver stool chairs were on the side of the bar that was in close to the door. On the right of the door there was a white door that blended in with the walls, that Kiara guessed was a storage room.

"Alfred, this is Kiara. She is apparently very hungry, would you mind making her something to eat?" Bruce inquired, standing just inside the kitchen and gestured for her to take a seat on one of the stools by the breakfast obligingly took the stool that was the second to the last one at the end of the bar, furthest from the door. Kiara had no idea who he was talking to until she heard a prim, deep, British drawl reply "Of course, Master Bruce. Miss Kiara it is a pleasure to meet you. Is there anything in particular you would like me to prepare for you?". A greying middle aged looking man in a pristine black suit and bow tie with a crisp white shirt underneath appeared from the white door behind her. From his attire and mannerisms Kiara guessed he was a butler of some sort, maybe just a chef. She guessed she shouldn't be surprised that a big fancy house with rich people had servants.

As Alfred came round the breakfast bar to face Kiara she couldn't help return his warm smile. Kiara instantly knew she would like him, he seemed like a nice warm old man, very fatherly. "It's nice to meet you too Alfred. And please don't go to any trouble, I'm so hungry I will just about eat anything." she grinned back at Alfred. She instinctively leaned forward over the counter towards Alfred, of all the people she had met in the house Alfred was the one she knew she would get along the best with.

"Oh, no trouble at all Miss Kiara. And if you are as hungry as you say you are" Alfred turned to Bruce and gave him a glare, as if to say 'You didn't feed the girl?!', "I know just the thing; quick and just want youths today enjoy.". Alfred gave Kiara one last smile and walked over to the fridge and brought out a box cardboard box, and proceeded to take out slices of pizza and put them on a plate and into the microwave.

The pizza was plain cheese and tomato, but Kiara really didn't care, it had been so long since she had had pizza and being so hungry she just wanted to eat it all. Kiara opened her mouth to thank Alfred when something came bounding into the kitchen. It was Dick. He stood with his legs far apart in a low stance as he looked around with wide eyes, Kiara's first instinct was; something was wrong, something had happened. She got ready to stand up and fight if she had to when; "Are you reheating my pizza?! Alfred you traitor! You don't even like pizza! How could you do this to me?". After his loud dramatic exclamation Dick fell to his knees with his arms thrown straight up in the air, his head back. Both Bruce and Alfred looked at Dick and sighed and dropped their heads down between their shoulders. "Master Dick, it is not I who is going to eat your pizza, it is for Miss Kiara." Alfred mediated in his calm demeanour.

As Alfred was trying to diffuse the situation Bruce slipped out of the kitchen silently and found Damian. Damian was in the corridors on his way to the kitchen as he had heard the telltale signs of one of Dick's dramatic outbursts. Bruce walked past Damian in the hallway and but as they passed each other Bruce grabbed old on Damian's left arm with his right hand. Looking down at Damian and keeping eye contact Bruce instructed Damian "Be civil with her Damian, she has done nothing wrong. She is sent here by your mother, she is just trying to complete her mission. You don't have to like her, but don't avoid her. Now she's in the kitchen with Dick and Alfred, go and be civil.". Damian stared at Bruce and took in all of what he had said and simply gave a short rigid nod in accordance. Then they both continued on their way to their destinations, with long strong steps that seemed identical.

"TRAITOR!" Dick screamed as he pointed at Kiara, who had a bored yet slightly amused look on her face. Damian walked into the kitchen as Kiara replied with "Didn't anyone ever tell you that it's rude to point.", and used the index finger of her right hand to push his pointed finger away from her dismissively. Damian stood with his left side resting on the breakfast bar near the door, his arms crossed across his chest, ready to make a quick silent exit if needed. Alfred had took the pizza out of the microwave, as he looked up he smiled and greeted Damian with "Good evening Master Damian." Kiara's head whipped to her left to witness the young Al Ghul. He caught her gaze and challenged her with a glare, and stiff predatory posture, and Kiara countered his challenge with a raise of her head, her jaw jutting out stubbornly with her left eyebrow raised in defiance.

Alfred put the pizza and a glass of water in front of Kiara on the breakfast bar, to which she gratefully thanked him for. As she took the first bite she turned to Dick after she had swallowed and regarded him with "Thanks for the pizza, pretty boy. It's really good, you should get some.". She accompanied her quip with a cheeky smirk, to which Dick laughed and stood up and took a slice of pizza of her plate and greedily inhaled it. At Kiara's nickname for Dick Damian's posture locked up even more and his glare dropped down onto the granite worktop of the breakfast bar. "Why does everyone call him that?" Damian scoffed to himself in a gruff tone.'He's at least ten years older than her, you would think she would have better taste.', Damian bitterly brooded to himself.

After Dick had finished the bite he was chewing he loudly squawked out "That's my line!". Kiara chuckled into her pizza, that she was currently demolishing almost as fast a Dick, until Alfred addressed her. "Miss Kiara, do you have any belongings with you? Any extra clothing of sorts that needs washing or ironing?" Alfred inquired politely, which Kiara appreciated so much, he was really growing on Kiara fast. Finishing her current bite of pizza she answered him with a laugh, "I don't have anything of the sort,Alfred. Thank you very much though." she grinned gratefully at him.

"Nothing? Oh no, that won't do. We will sort you somethings out right away, but as of now I will acquire you some sleepwear while you finish your food, and then it's off to bed with all of you." Alfred announced and was gone in a very poised strut. After Alfred's abrupt exit Dick picked up two more slices of pizza, one in each hand, grinned at both Kiara and Damian and bid them a farewell before he swaggered out of the kitchen.

Kiara kept her eyes on her food, and ate the remaining pizza at a more normal rate, as she was now self conscious of the piercing stare that was upon her. As she took her last bite and gulped down her glass of water, as she put the glass down she finally met Damian's ever present stare with new determined confidence. She was not going to deal with his teenage temper tantrums, and she definitely wasn't going to let it jeopardise her mission. She was going to put her foot down and tell him what was going to happen. "I am going to spar with you and see how your skills and training is, if it's changed and how to retrain you and keep it at optimum capability." Kiara asserted to Damian, not giving him a choice.

Damian was taken aback by her forwardness, but he was not one to be pushed around, he lent forward towards Kiara and stretched his mouth in a snarl as he snapped back "I don't take orders. Especially not from you.". Damian was not going to let this girl try to intimidate him, and if she thought that she could order him around he would show the harsh truth. Kiara was not at all intimidated by his response, she had been expecting him to snap back at her, she wasn't going to let him stamp his feet and get his way, that'snot how this was going to go. "You might not take orders, but I do. From your mother, and whether you like it or not I'm not letting your bad attitude stop me from fulfilling them.", Kiara snarled right back at Damian, with her lip curled just like his.

Before Damian could retort Alfred walked in with a grey T-shirt and black jogging bottoms folded in his arms. Damian found the clothing oddly familiar, and when he realised they were his he was about to protest to Alfred giving Kiara anything of his, but Alfred cut him off and kindly instructed Kiara "Here you can sleep in these until I can find some more appropriate clothing. Now off to bed, you must be exhausted.". Kiara returned Alfred smile and thanked him and took the clothing, as she got up to leave and bid him a goodnight with a small wave she narrowed her gaze on Damian and gave him a short quipped goodnight and lifted her head up and turned on her heels to leave.

When Kiara was out of the kitchen Alfred turned to wash the plate and glass and answered the question on the tip of Damian's tongue, "Your clothes are the only ones that she can fit in, I am sure her using your clothing will not be the end of the world Master Damian. Now off to bed with you.". Alfred's statement left no room for protest so Damian begrudgingly skulked out of the kitchen bidding Alfred a muttered goodnight, to which he replied in kind. Kiara being around was not staring out as Damian would have hoped, and from her earlier comments it could only get worse.


End file.
